DIVISIONS ARISE IN GOP ‘PATENT TROLL’ FIGHT -- Lawmakers are making a new push to curb frivolous patent lawsuits, but the battle lines taking shape in the Republican-led Congress look much like they did when a similar effort fell apart last year, Kate reports. “The re-emerging fault lines could threaten a high-profile campaign by tech companies like Google and the retail industry, which want protection from aggressive ‘patent trolls,’” she writes.

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The House and President Barack Obama have both said they want strong reform. “But just like during the last session of Congress, early resistance is forming in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which must approve a bill to get the process rolling in the upper chamber. Repeating the pattern of last year, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are working behind the scenes with Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on an anti-troll bill. They’re expected to consider provisions like “fee-shifting,” which would make the losing party in a patent lawsuit pay the winner’s court costs.”

“But key Democrats are opposed to some of the stronger provisions on the table, siding with the pharmaceutical industry, universities and others who fear the reforms could go too far and weaken overall intellectual property rights. That’s making it harder for Republicans to guarantee they can lock down the 60 votes needed to clear procedural hurdles on the Senate floor.” Read more in Kate’s full story: http://politico.pro/1AACPe1

-- SOFTWARE EXECS MAKE THEIR CASE: The top lawyers at major software companies head to the Hill today to advocate strong new rules to fight patent trolls. BSA | The Software Alliance is flying in the general counsels from Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, Dell, IBM, Symantec, Siemens, Altium, CA Technologies, Minitab and Salesforce.com. They’ll meet with Rep. Bob Goodlatte and other members of the House Judiciary Committee, plus Sens. Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley. “We want the strongest litigation reform possible,” BSA’s Craig Albright, vice president of legislative strategy, tells MT. The companies will also use their meetings to discuss international data policy, educating lawmakers on how trade promotion authority, ECPA reform, the LEADS Act and other legislative proposals could affect their industry.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we’d love to know which pols are interested in “Sharknado 3” (http://politi.co/1Gccawe). Tell us who you’d like to see make a cameo when you send tips to asneed@politico.com, @atsneed. Catch the full team’s info after speed read.

** A message from The Inventing America Conference: Join Sen. Coons, Carly Fiorina, university and industry leaders, venture capitalists, R&D intensive startups and prominent inventors on March 4 for a discussion on the importance of invention and patents to job creation and US global competitiveness. http://www.inventingamerica.org **

WHEELER TALKS REGULATION AT MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler today makes his first public address since the FCC passed his controversial net neutrality plan last week. He’s appearing at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, where he’s expected to address his approach to regulations for an open Internet. We’re tracking.

FCC DEFENDS PROCESS UNVEILING NET NEUTRALITY ORDER — General counsel Jon Sallet has taken to the FCC’s blog to defend the timeframe for publishing the agency’s new net neutrality rules. The item will be published once the agency can respond to statements and arguments made by commissioners, as well as make any clarifications or “clean up” edits, Sallet wrote Monday. But Republicans, who were already upset about the order not being released prior to the vote, are still dismayed it hasn’t been unveiled yet — and the FCC’s blog post indicates the agency is hearing those yells. The problem: As an FCC official told MT last week, it could be days or even a few weeks until the final rules are published. We’re tracking. http://fcc.us/1Eaw2iK

LAWMAKERS TELL FCC TO EYE 10 GHZ — A bipartisan group of lawmakers from both chambers are asking FCC boss Tom Wheeler to set his sights on the 10 GHz band of airwaves, according to a letter they fired off to the agency Monday. The missive, led by Reps. Doris Matsui and Brett Guthrie — two of the congressional proponents of the AWS-3 auction — seeks to build on the success of that effort to repurpose government spectrum. “Sharing opportunities in the 10 GHz band could make more spectrum available and provide another avenue for consumers and innovators to tap into the Internet economy,” they write. “This band could be used for expanding Wi-Fi capabilities to bring Internet access to more Americans.” Lawmakers and regulators have been talking about the 5 GHz band in the same way, but this is some of the first Hill attention for the 10 GHz chunk, which is currently allocated to government holdings. http://bit.ly/1GIVPg7

GOOGLE TAKES ANOTHER STEP INTO WIRELESS — Google is making another move into the telecom world, and its modest plans to become a wireless carrier add to a slate of projects that could make it a major force among Internet providers. Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai announced the plans at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday, saying Google will operate a virtual network on spectrum leased from larger carriers to demonstrate new possibilities, Re/code reports (http://on.recode.net/1zSTF94). Google won’t be a “network operator at scale,” he said. The company is similarly experimenting with three other Internet-connectivity initiatives: Fiber offers ultra-high-speed Internet to three U.S. cities, with more on the way; Loon hosts wireless networks in high-altitude balloons to bring Internet access to rural and remote areas of the world; and Titan plans to achieve a similar goal using solar-powered drones.

Taken together, the projects are an ambitious effort to change how the Internet reaches all kinds of consumers — from those who’ve had the fastest service at home for years to those who’ve never connected before. Pichai was careful to say Google considers larger providers like Verizon and AT&T to be its partners. Those companies are crucial to the success of Google’s other mobile endeavors like its pervasive Android operating system. But if Google finds a way to lower prices or improve offerings in an already competitive industry, that dynamic could quickly change. (For more on Pinchai’s talk, check out The Verge: http://bit.ly/1M3QNOl)

-- ZUCKERBERG TRIES TO MAKE NICE WITH PROVIDERS: In a separate appearance at Mobile World Congress, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sought to ease tensions between his company and wireless carriers, The New York Times reports. Providers have been growing impatient with Facebook-led Internet.org, created to provide free access to certain mobile applications in the developing world. Telecoms say Facebook and others are taking advantage of the costly infrastructure investments they’ve made, but Zuckerberg framed the organization as an incentive for people to sign up for new mobile services. The New York Times has more: http://nyti.ms/1zBssGN

TODAY: FTC’S DATA SECURITY AUTHORITY ON TRIAL -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will hear oral arguments today in the hotelier Wyndham Worldwide’s claim the agency doesn’t have authority to regulate companies’ cybersecurity practices. The FTC charged Wyndham didn’t take “reasonable” precautions to protect customer data. Wyndham lost its case at the district court level. Background from Erin Mershon: http://politico.pro/RywSiY

TECHNET TAPS EIGHT NEW MEMBERS — The tech trade group in D.C. is adding a couple more corporate members to its roster, including a couple smaller players beyond Silicon Valley. Dell is the biggest name among the growing bunch, and it's joining TechNet along with firms like Amyris, a Calif.-based renewable company; OpenDNS, the San Francisco company focused on network security and SunGard, a financial services company from Pennsylvania. Other adds: ecoATM, Fortinet, NI and Ocean Tomo.

REPORT: HOW TECH CAN IMPROVE MINORITY RECRUITMENT — Black and Hispanic teens are intrigued by careers in the tech industry, but companies seeking to recruit them may be making the wrong pitch, our friends at Morning Education report. That’s one conclusion of a white paper out today from the Creating IT Futures Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the tech industry trade association CompTIA. The study found that minority teens aspire to jobs that will let them earn enough to help out their parents; that ranked as even more important than “having a lot of money” or “having a career that others respect.” They weren’t crazy about the idea of working in an office or rising into managerial ranks. Instead, they sought a career where it would be easy to find work and where they could continue to grow and learn new skills. The foundation urges recruitment efforts to play up those aspects of IT jobs — and to emphasize that students don’t need super strong math and science skills, or a four-year degree, to succeed in the field. The report: http://politico.pro/1CjY0YJ

SPEED READ

JUDGE PUTS MISSISSIPPI’S GOOGLE PROBE ON HOLD. State Attorney General Jim Hood will have to wait at least four months to move forward with a subpoena over whether Google facilitates others’ illegal activities. The Associated Press reports: http://abcn.ws/17MEabe

AMAZON TESTS ‘SHIP TO CUBA’ OPTION. As the U.S. works to reestablish ties with the island nation, indicators suggest the online retailer is testing out how to do business there. Reuters has more: http://on.recode.net/17MEXce

FAKING IT TO SUCCEED ON ALIBABA. Retailers on the Chinese e-commerce site have a system to fake their sales in order to get better treatment from the site. The Wall street Journal has the story: http://on.wsj.com/17MFb2X

REPORT: UBER LISTED SENSITIVE KEY ON PUBLIC SITE. The ridesharing company is now taking GitHub to court to find out all IP addresses that accessed the page ahead of a hack that exposed driver information. Ars Technica reports: http://bit.ly/17MGvmt

** A message from The Inventing America Conference: Join Sen. Coons, Carly Fiorina, university and industry leaders, venture capitalists, R&D intensive startups and prominent inventors on March 4 for a discussion on the importance of invention and patents to job creation and US global competitiveness. http://www.inventingamerica.org **